We're one spike closer to the day when we can move discussion about the Southern Pacific Placerville Branch from the Fallen Flags section to Today's Trains. There's been a lot of activity on the Placerville Branch over the past three months. To view recent activity, please click on over to our blog at http://eldoradowestern.blogspot.com. The El Dorado Western Railway forged an agreement with all interested parties, including the Friends of the El Dorado Trail, over the summer. By a 5-0 vote of the county board of supervisors last week, the segment of rail from the El Dorado Wye (Mother Lode Road grade crossing) to end-of-track at Missouri Flat Road was preserved for rail operations. Part of the agreement is that the El Dorado Trail will be extended to the west of Missouri Flat Road along the right-of-way at some point in the future. This something that we've supported from the beginning. But the good news is that the trail will be built adjacent to the tracks. The future of the remaining segment of the branch line, from the county line to the Wye, is less certain. While the trails group wants to rip out those, we don't believe this will happen anytime soon. One county supervisor was quoted in the local paper to that effect last week. Other rail groups will be working to preserve that segment. In the mean time, please visit the El Dorado Western Railway blog. If you're on Facebook, please support our group page. We have some fantastic news coming around the first of the year. And watch the Mountain Democrat newspaper. We have had overwhelming support from the paper's editorial board. A front-page article for tomorrow's edition includes three photos from yours truly! This is the second article with photos on the rail line in a week. The best news, as evidenced by articles in the paper and on the blog, is that we're workin' on the railroad. Most activity has centered around replacing ties and missing spikes, improving drainage, cutting brush and tightening joiner bolts. Steven Karoly
